1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shirt with a separable front panel, and more particularly, to a shirt with a front panel having two halves which may be detachably connected by hook and loop fasteners.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most people can easily manipulate fastening devices, such as buttons, snaps, and zippers, to fasten portions of a garment to one another. For individuals who have limited manual dexterity, however, manipulating such fastening devices is difficult and sometimes impossible. Individuals suffering from arthritis, for example, experience a great deal of difficulty in manipulating a series of buttons on a garment.
Some attempts have been made in the past to provide garments that are easier to don and remove than garments with conventional fasteners. For the most part, however, these garments include loose fitting, specialized clothing, such as hospital gowns, which are not appropriate or desirable for individuals who are not restricted to a hospital and who wish to engage in outside activities. Additionally, most disabled individuals wish to live as normal a lifestyle as is permitted by their disability and do not wish to bring attention to their disability by wearing unusual clothing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,268, issued Feb. 18, 1986 to James J. Freeman, discloses a patient's garment which is loose fitting to accommodate a wide range of sizes. The garment has a body portion and sleeves. The body portion includes a main panel and a pair of adjacent side panels. The outer edges of the side panels are joined together in overlapping relationship by a plurality of fasteners. The top of each sleeve is provided with an openable seam having adjacent mating edges which can be held together in overlapping relationship by a plurality of spaced apart hook and loop fasteners.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,794, issued Jul. 10, 1990 to H. R. Aronson, discloses adjustable neck and cuff closures for dress shirts. The neck or cuffs of a man's shirt can be closed in an adjustable manner by providing hook and loop fasteners on respective facing portions of a garment. A dress button sewn on an outer surface of a dress shirt portion simulates the appearance of a conventional garment closure button but serves no part in fastening outer and inner garment portions together.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,133, issued Jul. 20, 1999 to M. Zapiti, discloses a garment fastening system for use with a pair of pants having a pair of adjoining leg segments joined at a crotch area and a dress shirt. The garment fastening system comprises hook and loop fastener strips secured to each fly flap of a pair of pants. In a dress shirt, the garment fastening system is used to join a pair of adjacent shirt halves, and a pair of shirt sleeves having a cuff opening, wherein the cuff opening consists of a pair of adjacent cuff flaps. The garment fastening system comprises a first set of hook and loop fastener segments sized and shaped to appear as standard buttons cooperatively arranged between the edges of shirt halves, and a second set of hook and loop fastener segments cooperatively arranged between the adjacent cuff flaps.
Japanese Patent No. 2000-345,401, published Dec. 12, 2000, discloses a shirt for lapped front closing with hook and loop fasteners. The shirt has a pair of adjacent first and second front panels. The first front panel has on a front surface, a plurality of stitched buttonhole segments disposed along a vertical edge margin and a button affixed to each stitched buttonhole segment. A series of mating hook and loop patches are disposed on a back surface of the first front panel and a front surface of the second front panel so that the first and second front panels may be releasably fastened together when disposed in overlapping position. While the shirt resembles a conventional shirt when the collar is closed, the hook and loop fastener segments at the neck are clearly visible when the collar is left open.
Other loose fitting or easy to fasten garments are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,124, issued Jan. 12, 1988 to Sawicki et al. (patient gown); U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,351, issued Feb. 9, 1993 to Benstock (versatile patient gown); U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,123, issued Oct. 15, 1996 to B. Grassick (single piece upper garment for the physically challenged); U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,917, issued Apr. 22, 1997 to S. R. Howsden (infant care garment); U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,271, issued Apr. 17, 2001 to C. Chen (garment for a patient); German Patent No. 19,918,381, published Oct. 28, 1999 (fastener for coats and jackets); and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0135910, published Jul. 24, 2003.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a shirt with hook and loop fasteners solving the aforementioned problems is desired.